Thanksgiving for Two

As an ER nurse, DF was scheduled to work on Thursday. They had a big potluck at work, and I was invited to a Thanksgiving feast, but I still felt like doing something for us in recognition of the holiday. Both of us had the day off yesterday, so I roasted a turkey breast following the same recipe as last year.

I also cooked some brown rice that I made into a pilaf by stirring in plumped dried cranberries, lemon zest, chopped pistachios and cashews once the rice was done. Not really a recipe per se, but delicious anyway.

I had plans to have a salad, but we didn't get to that. Too busy eating roasted veggies out of the roasting pan and picking meat off the bird! We are very casual diners here at Casa Flan.

The end of the meal featured Zesty Cranberry Cake, which came from The Cake Mix Doctor's first book:

OK, I'm going to make a shameless plug for Anne Byrn, the Cake Mix Doctor, whose recipe this is. I have all three of her cake books, and everything I've made from them has been delicious! The use of cake mix may offend purists, but not me. If it's good, I don't care if it's pure scratch or not. The website and newsletter are also good. Check her out! And buy her books! (I have no affiliation except for being a happy customer)

It's an interesting recipe--jellied cranberry sauce from the can is a major ingredient, and there's no oil added.



I won't make any claims that it's low calorie, but it isn't as sugary and over the top as a lot of holiday baked goods. I made mine in loaf pans, but it's lovely baked in a Bundt pan with the glaze dribbled over the top.

The Cake Mix Doctor's Zesty Cranberry Cake

1 can (16 oz.) jellied cranberry sauce
1 package white cake mix
1/2 cup orange juice, fresh or from the carton
1 Tbsp. orange zest (optional, but a nice addition)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Extra orange juice if needed.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour pan(s).

Reserve 1/4 cup of the cranberry sauce and set aside for the glaze. Place remaining sauce, cake mix, juice, zest, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend together and pour batter into pan(s), smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Place in oven.

Bake unil light brown on top and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 30-35 minutes. Remove pan(s) from oven and place on rack to cool for 20 minutes. Remove from pan(s) to cool completely, 20 minutes more.

Meanwhile, make the glaze. Place remaining cranberry sauce and the confectoner's sugar in a food processor and blend until well combined and smooth. Thin out with a little extra orange juice if needed. (the original recipe has you mix the glaze with a fork, but I could never get it smooth enough without the food processor).

Spoon glaze over the cooled cake. Slice and serve.